Whiplash is a type of neck injury that occurs when your head moves back and forth (or side to side) rapidly.
When your head moves, your neck overextends.
This overextension strains the underlying muscle, tendons, and/or tissue.
What Causes Whiplash?
Whiplash can occur if you are involved in a traumatic event or sustain a blow to the head. Car accidents – particularly rear-end collisions – are the most common causes of whiplash. This is true even in crashes at very low speeds. Your seatbelt will secure your torso in place upon impact. However, your head isn’t restrained. The impact can cause your head to move forward and backward violently, putting extreme strain on your neck.
Other common causes of whiplash include:
- Truck accidents
- Bus accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Assaults, and
- Sports injuries.
Involved in a car accident in Philadelphia? Don’t hesitate to contact the whiplash injury lawyers at Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers to discuss your legal rights.
What Are the Signs of Whiplash?
It’s important to seek medical treatment as soon as you can after a Philadelphia car accident, even if you don’t think that you’ve been injured. Many internal injuries – including whiplash – may not be noticeable right away. In fact, it can take a few hours, days, or even weeks for symptoms to develop.
Signs of whiplash can include:
- Headaches
- Decreased range of motion
- Neck stiffness
- Pain and tenderness to the touch
- Knots in the neck muscles, and
- Dizziness.
Prompt medical care can help to ensure that your injuries are diagnosed and treated as early on as possible. This can be critical to protecting your health and any future legal claims you may decide to pursue.
How Common is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a fairly common injury. Every year, an estimated 3 million Americans are diagnosed with whiplash. About half of those people develop chronic symptoms and suffer from their injury for years after the incident that caused it.
However, it is important to note that individuals with certain health conditions or issues – such as arthritis or a previous neck injury – are more vulnerable to suffering whiplash.
How is Whiplash Treated?
For many accident victims, whiplash tends to heal on its own with the help of a few non-invasive treatments. These include:
- Application of ice to the neck
- Heat, after the application of ice
- The use of a neck brace to stabilize the strained muscle and/or tendons, and
- Painkillers, including NSAIDs and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications.
However, whiplash symptoms tend to linger. It can be a long road to recovery. It takes about 17 weeks for the neck to stabilize. Some whiplash victims struggle with their injury for months – or even years – after an accident. In these cases, the physical, emotional, and financial costs of whiplash can be overwhelming.
Damages Available to Philadelphia Whiplash Victims
A whiplash injury can affect nearly every aspect of your life. Whiplash can cause excruciating pain, limit your ability to move, and keep you from doing the things you love. For many people, whiplash prohibits them from working. Without a steady and reliable income, it can be hard to make ends meet.
When someone else is responsible for causing your whiplash injury, you have the right to pursue compensation. At Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers, our attorneys will fight to hold the person (or parties) responsible for your injury accountable for the harm they’ve caused. We can seek damages to compensate for:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation
- Lost income and wages
- Temporary and/or permanent disability
- Property damage
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress, and more.
It’s important that you don’t underestimate what your whiplash injury claim is worth. It’s also important to maintain some sense of control over how the value of your case is calculated. The last thing you want is to leave that up to an insurance company. They’ll do whatever they can to drive down the value and pay you as little as possible.
Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers has been a trusted ally for injured accident victims in Philadelphia for decades. Over the years, we’ve worked hard to build relationships with leading accident and injury experts in the area. We can rely on these experts as we tackle the more complicated or nuanced aspects of your case. They can help us understand your injury, how it might affect your life, and, in turn, what your case is probably worth.
Our comprehensive approach is designed to help you get maximum compensation from negligent parties and/or insurers. Give us a quick call today to learn more.
How Long Do I Have to File a Whiplash Injury Lawsuit in Philadelphia, PA?
You won’t have forever to demand compensation after an accident in Philadelphia. Generally speaking, the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits is two years from the date of your injury. You can be barred from getting any money at all if you wait too long to file your claim.
You may have more or less time to act, depending on the specific circumstances of your case. That’s why it’s important to seek legal assistance as soon as you can. Let the experienced Philadelphia whiplash attorneys at Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers help by calling us today.
Call Our Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyers For Help
Have you or a loved one suffered a whiplash injury in a Philadelphia accident? You may be entitled to money for things like medical bills, lost wages, and even your pain and suffering. The Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers are here to help. Give us a quick call (215) 875-7030 or reach out to us online to schedule a free, no-obligation case assessment. There’s a limited amount of time to act, so call us today.